Stand and Deliver
by Ciara in cotton socks
Summary: When Professor Zabini leaves the classroom, it provides the perfect opportunity for chatting, arguing, general mayhem... and a rather heated confrontation between a hurt Gryffindor and a Slytherin with a serious decision to make.


**A/N: Written for trumparrot was here's When the Professor Leaves the Classroom Challenge. **

**Hope you enjoy!**

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The Gryffindor Sixth Years traipsed down the stone steps leading to the dungeons, warm and sweaty after a strenuous Herbology lesson with Professor Longbottom in Greenhouse Three. A couple of the students were ashen-faced and breathing heavily, while Eliza Thomas bore a nasty-looking series of green-tinged cuts along her forearms, courtesy of the Venomous Tentacula. The whole group was panting with the exertion of scurrying back up to the castle; none of them wanted to be late for Potions. Professor Zabini notoriously hated tardiness.

However, it soon transpired that they need not have worried. A straggly line of Slytherins stood outside the classroom, chatting in cheerful undertones. Clearly, Professor Zabini had not arrived yet. Most of the small group of Gryffindors staggered down the flagstone corridor, but Rose Weasley stood frozen on the second-from-last step. The sixteen-year-old wore an expression of frozen shock as she stared down at the group of Slytherins closest to the classroom door.

"Rose?" Albus said, just in front of her. He turned to face her, his vivid green eyes awash with concern. He followed Rose's line of sight and his mouth fell open with a murmured 'Oh' of comprehension. A hand immediately jumped to his untidy shock of dark hair, as it often did when he was anxious or nervous. "Are you OK? I mean, you could..."

"What, Al?" Rose snapped, sharper than she had intended. "Skip class, and have Zabini on my back? I don't think so."

"But Rose, Mal-"

"_Don't_ say his name," said Rose darkly, with a vicious glare towards the familiar white-blonde head among the hulking Slytherins. "I couldn't care less about him, alright Albus?"

"Rose," Albus said quietly. "What he... those things he said after the Quidditch match..."

"You mean when he insulted my parents, yours, our dead uncle and our entire extended family?" asked Rose, her voice rising slightly hysterically. "Or when he told me a dirty blood traitor like me wasn't fit to lick his perfect pureblood shoes? Stupid prat, showing off in front of his precious Slytherin friends. My dad was right about him, about his family."

"Rosie-"

"Al, leave it. He- it doesn't matter, I don't care. Not anymore."

"But you two were..."

"It didn't mean anything, Al," said Rose, and her tone indicated that he should not argue with her." "It was just a stupid mistake, nothing more. I really couldn't care less."

She was spared the need to explain further as Professor Zabini arrived and swept past them into the dungeon classroom. Albus put a hand on Rose's shoulder, but she shook him off and strode past the straggling students into the room. She glanced once at both Albus and Scorpius, and then settled herself next to Eliza and Siobhán Finnigan. Al tried to catch her eye, but Rose stuck her chin in the air and ignored him, glad for once to have Professor Zabini's monotonous lecture on blended poisons to focus on. Today of all days she needed the distraction. Between Al's curious prodding and Scorpius Bloody Malfoy and his sleek, arrogant lies, she could barely hear herself think.

Unfortunately for Rose, however, the lesson had barely been in session ten minutes when Professor Zabini rose to his feet and excused himself to go speak to Professor Longbottom. Rose groaned and slid down slightly in her chair. She knew what happened when the teacher left the room.

Sure enough, after a period of maybe ten seconds, chaos erupted.

Conversations exploded into being as a cacophony of voices echoed off the cold stone walls. The Slytherins immediately began making nuisances of themselves, tossing rough paper balls at anyone within range. Rose took one to the left ear, and immediately felt tears rising in her eyes. Pathetic. She was letting that idiot get to her, as she had sworn she wouldn't. Biting her lip, she took a deep steadying breath and turned with determination to Siobhán and Eliza's conversation. The two girls were giggling and swooning over the latest edition of _Witch Weekly_, which apparently featured an in-depth interview with new England Quidditch captain Oliver Wood.

"He was at school with our parents you know," Siobhán was gushing, a dark pink blush spreading across her freckled cheeks. "A couple of years ahead, but still..."

Rose tried to concentrate, she really did, but the Slytherins kept throwing things and the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws were involved in a heated debate about the result of last week's Quidditch game and the dubious capture of the Snitch by Hufflepuff Seeker Fawcett. To top it all off Peeves the poltergeist, who seemed to have some sort of sense for a lack of teacher supervision, came spinning through the wall, cackling manically and spitting ink pellets at the students below him. Eliza shrieked and ducked for cover beneath the desk, while Siobhán used her magazine for protection. Rose merely sighed in resignation.

"Peeves," Albus called commandingly, his Prefect badge gleaming on his chest. "Do you want me to get the Baron? Just- just shove off, alright?"

Peeves merely blew a raspberry.

"Come on everyone, Al's right," a Ravenclaw Prefect whose name Rose didn't know said half-heartedly. "Let's all just shut up, eh? We're only going to put Zabini in a worse mood when he gets back and then-"

She was cut off by Peeves taking a bottle of ink in each hand and pouring them over both her and Albus. The pandemonium continued.

"Hey Weasley," one of the Slytherins shouted, a huge hulking boy with tombstone teeth who bore a rather unfortunate resemblance to the picture of a mountain troll in Rose's copy of _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_. "Weasley, I'm talking to you!"

"Yeah, he's talking to you," his similarly troll-like companion jeered. "Has being a blood traitor affected your hearing as well as your face?"

It wasn't even a particularly clever insult; any other day, Rose would have snorted scathingly, or maybe used the Bat-Bogey Hex her Aunt Ginny had taught her. But today, on top of everything else, it was the last straw. The tears in her eyes spilled over with a loud, startled sob and she swiped at her eyes furiously. She almost knocked her stool over as she clambered to her feet and stumbled blindly towards the door, dodging another of Peeves' stupid ink pellets. Albus tried to grab a hold of her as she passed him, but she shook him off. His voice merged with Eliza's and Siobhán's, a mundane murmuring of concern.

"Rose!"

"Rosie?"

"Rose?"

"Rose, wait!"

And suddenly a strong hand had wrapped itself around her slim wrist. She would know his touch anywhere, would recognise the feel of his velvet smooth skin against hers. Ordinarily, it made her feel weak. Now bile rose in her throat.

"Let go of me, Scorpius," she spat at him, grateful for the welcome distraction of Peeves and the Slytherins that allowed their argument to go unnoticed by their classmates.

"Rose, are you alright?"

"I said let go!" she hissed furiously. "It's not like you care anyway, you made your feelings pretty clear after the Quidditch match."

"I'm sorry about that, you know I am. It was- _I _was stupid. Everyone else was... and I..."

"You wanted to fit in, I get it. It wouldn't do for a _noble_ Malfoy to give a toss about a blood traitor like me, right?"

"Rose, I didn't mean it!" Scorpius exclaimed, a note of pleading in his voice. He took her chin in his hand and forced it gently upwards. "I'm sorry."

"I don't care," said Rose coldly. "I'm done being some girl you only want when nobody can see, Scorpius. I-I thought it was romantic at first, all those secret notes and the midnight meetings... But it was just a bit of fun to you, wasn't it? And more fool me for thinking you actually cared."

"I did! I-I do, Rose, you know I do. But it's hard... our families..."

"Would get over it, eventually," Rose finished, a glint of contempt in her eye. She drew herself up to her full height and slapped Scorpius' hand away from a loose strand of copper hair. "They would, but I'm not sure you can."

"Rose, please don't do this. I love you, you know I do," said Scorpius, begging now. His silver eyes bored into her in that way they had of making her feel like he could see right into her soul. Rose recognised a flicker of the old feelings in the pit of her stomach, but she shook herself and stared him down.

"It's just words Scorpius," she said softly. "It's always just words with you. You're ashamed of what we have- what we had."

"Never!"

"Then prove it," she challenged, squaring her jaw in the way her dad often said reminded him of her Uncle Fred. Scorpius gave her one quick, blazing look that caused her heart to leap, but then he faltered. "Just as I thought."

She turned to go, a lone tear spilling down her cheek, when he grabbed her again, by the waist this time. Scorpius was strong, and he turned her around as easily as a ragdoll. His eyes had that look again, simultaneous fire and ice. Rose felt her heart pound furiously against her chest, and then she felt nothing more because Scorpius had pulled her to him and was kissing her with more urgency and passion than ever before. The butterflies in her stomach seemed to have transfigured themselves into fireworks.

Eventually, they pulled apart, and Rose became painfully aware of the sudden silence that had enveloped the classroom. Albus sat bemused at his table, his mouth hanging open so that he looked rather gormless, and Siobhán and Eliza were staring wide-eyed as a genuine scandal developed before their hungry eyes.

"Scorpius mate," one of the troll-like boys chuckled sleazily. "Even you can't be that desperate!"

The rest of the Slytherins roared with laughter and Rose felt her cheeks blaze with embarrassment. She glanced at Scorpius, who was staring transfixed at his friends. A vein pulsed in his neck.

"Crabbe's right Scorpius," a sharp-featured girl with a severe devil's peak smirked. "Even a Squib would be better than scum like the Weasel."

"Shut up."

Scorpius' voice was so quiet Rose wasn't quite sure she had heard him correctly. Hardly daring to hope, she glanced up at him with some trepidation. Scorpius' face was a mask of serenity, but his eyes glinted like chips of ice. He moved to stand in front of Rose, shielding her from the Slytherin's taunts.

"What?"

"I said, shut up," Scorpius growled, surveying the rest of the Slytherins with distaste. He slipped his hand into Rose's and squeezed it for strength. "Her name is Rose, and I happen to be in love with her. Is that a problem?"

The deafening silence lasted for several moments, only to be broken by Peeve's, who began to chant:

'_Malfoy and Weasley sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g... Malfoy loves Weasley, Malfoy _lurves-_"_

"Shut up Peeves!" Rose exclaimed, finally losing her temper and tossing an old copy of _Advanced Potion Making_ at the mischievous little man, who turned so that he was upside down and dodged. He poked out his tongue as the book crashed through the enchanted window Professor Zabini had had installed in the dark dungeon room, shattering it into a thousand pieces.

"What is going on here?"

Rose gulped and turned to see Professor Zabini's tall, dark form standing in the doorway. He looked from Rose to the window and back again with a thunderous expression. Scorpius squeezed her hand comfortingly and out of the corner of her eye she saw Albus shaking his head disparagingly. Rose's head hurt; right now she wasn't certain which was worse, Albus' knowing expression or the sudden silence... or the broken window.

"Weasley, Malfoy, detention. Tomorrow night, and every night for a week after," Zabini growled, dismissing them back to their seats. Rose groaned; she had Quidditch training tomorrow evening; Will Sloper would kill her for missing it. The broken window was definitely top of the list, she thought grimly as she accepted her punishment with a curt nod. She and Scorpius let go of each other's hands somewhat reluctantly and went their separate ways.

By way of apology, Rose abandoned her seat with Eliza and Siobhán and slid onto the vacant stool next to Albus.

"I'm sorry for getting mad. I was just so upset... Forgive me?" she whispered. Albus gave her a quick one-armed hug and then turned back to his Potions book, grinning.

"_Malfoy and Weasley, sitting in a tree..._" he murmured under his breath and Rose banged her head against the desk, embarrassed. Never mind the broken window, or that sudden silence when Scorpius had kissed her in front of everyone. Albus Potter was a thousand times worse. And she could only imagine how awful it would be once he blurted out the truth to James, Lorcan and Lysander. Not to mention Hugo and Lily, who were bound to send owls home to the various members of her large extended family. She could imagine the Howlers now, and she wouldn't put it past Uncle George to appear in the Gryffindor common room fire just to tease her. A groan rippled through her teeth.

As she set to cutting up her daisy roots however, Scorpius caught her eye from across the classroom and smiled roguishly. Rose felt her stomach leap, and suddenly Albus' teasing didn't matter so much. She beamed back at Scorpius, who waited until Zabini's back was turned and then deftly aimed a paper airplane which landed in Rose's lap. Rose elbowed Albus roughly away from the note and unfolded it, shielding it with her right hand. She read Scorpius' neat italic handwriting quickly and smiled across the classroom at him again. As always, Scorpius' words had the simultaneous ability to make her laugh and tug at her heartstrings:

_Maybe Professor Zabini should leave the classroom more often..._


End file.
